CHAPIN, S.C. – South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is playing up her connection to President Donald Trump in the first TV campaign ad of a hotly contested gubernatorial race, highlighting the Republican candidates’ heated pursuit of the president’s backing in a state where his support remains high.

Evette is launching a $1 million television buy, with an ad debuting during Saturday’s football games being played by the University of South Carolina and Clemson University, her campaign told The Associated Press. The 30-second spot will run for a month across the state.

The ad features a video snippet of Trump praising Evette as she stumped for him in 2024. It shows her alongside Trump as he tells a crowd that she is “going places — you do know that, right?”

Trump hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the race, and it’s unclear if or when he will. But the competition among the GOP contenders for the president’s backing has shaped up in some ways to be a more intense competition than the nomination battle itself.

Along with Evette, Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman and state Attorney General Alan Wilson are vying for the GOP nod. One Democrat has also entered the race, but Republicans hold all statewide-elected positions in South Carolina and have won the governor’s office for more than 20 years.

All four of the top Republican hopefuls have made clear they understand Trump’s influence and the benefit his endorsement would bring.

Elected alongside Gov. Henry McMaster in 2018, Evette has touted her “unwavering support” for Trump, terming her campaign “Keep South Carolina Great,” akin to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra. Touting her time serving with the popular McMaster — South Carolina’s longest-serving governor and a longtime Trump ally — Evette has also, like Trump, highlighted her decades of business experience and emphasis on growing the state’s economy.

Mace, in a fundraising email this week to supporters, said, “I’m going to work my a(asterisk)(asterisk) off” to secure Trump’s backing, pointing out he had posted favorably about her standing in the race on social media.

During her summer launch event, Mace called herself “Trump in high heels” and argued she is best positioned to carry out his agenda in South Carolina, where he has remained popular since his 2016 state primary win helped cement his status as the GOP presidential nominee.

Wilson has angled to play up his proximity to Trump from both his campaign and official capacities, sending news releases decrying as a “witch hunt” a New York case against Trump and showcasing his authoring of a multi-state friend-of-the-court brief defending the president against the $500 million fraud judgment that was thrown out. As he kicked off his bid, Wilson told the AP he wanted “to DOGE all of South Carolina government,” cutting wasteful spending in the mold of the Department of Government Efficiency that Trump stood up in his administration’s earliest days.

Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus and among the chamber’s most conservative, stridently backed Trump during his first term but in the 2024 presidential campaign endorsed former Gov. Nikki Haley, who is also backing him in the governor’s race. But Norman has also played up his support of Trump’s legislative agenda and was at the White House for Trump’s event honoring Purple Heart recipients this month.

South Carolina’s primary elections are June 9, with a runoff two weeks later if needed. In 2018, Trump made a last-minute trip to stump with McMaster, helping him secure a runoff win en route to his first full term.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.